Chandigarh, Nov 16 (IANS): Former Punjab minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday demanded a CBI inquiry or a judicial inquiry monitored by a sitting judge of the high court to unmask the multi-crore Naib Tehsildar recruitment scam conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) following the arrest of some individuals after the emergence of wrongdoing in the examination process.

Majithia, in a statement here, said: "Preliminary evidence collected by the Vigilance Bureau indicates there was a larger conspiracy both within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government as well as the PPSC to ensure the selection of candidates from two examination centres of Moonak and Patran.

"Since these examination centres are from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, the Vigilance Department will not be able to probe the involvement of persons in the top echelons of the AAP government as well as the PPSC which virulently defended the selection process.

"Only an independent probe can ensure the unmasking of the kingpins of this scam and their due punishment," he said.

Asking the Chief Minister to hand over the investigation into the scam to the CBI or a sitting judge of the high court, Majithia said that "70,000 candidates who sat for the paper want a transparent probe and will not be satisfied by an eyewash which targets low-level accomplices".

The Akali leader also demanded immediate scrapping of the entire recruitment process conducted for the Naib Tehsildar examination.

He also demanded probing the role of staff which had facilitated the examination so that political bosses who had given them orders to indulge in this wrongdoing could be identified and punished appropriately.

Majithia also demanded that all other examinations which were under the cloud, including that for Veterinary Officers and Inspectors of Cooperative Societies, be conducted afresh in a transparent manner.

Majithia also asked AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal to explain what 'badlav' (changes) he was preaching in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.